Awesome lamburger recipe.

A few weeks ago at the grocery store, I picked up a pound of ground lamb on a whim. I've always loved lamb, and thought it might be interesting to try a "lamburger". While the rest of my family ate plain ol' hamburgers last night, I fried up a couple of lamburgers. The first thing I did was go online to Superior Farms' website, to see what their seasoning suggestions were. Armed with a couple of ideas, I went to work.

They were DELICIOUS. This is basically what I did:

Season ground lamb with:

• salt & pepper
  
• Worcestershire sauce
  
• garlic powder
  
• thyme

(and I would have tried adding some rosemary had we had any)

Form into patties and fry (or grill) until cooked through.

Serve on a bun and top with:

• a slice of colby-jack cheese, and
  
• a tossed salad of shredded lettuce, finely-diced tomatoes, and buttermilk ranch dressing.

They were absolutely fantastic, especially with the buttermilk ranch. For my first burger, I did the normal slice of tomato and a couple leaves of lettuce, but that got messy quick. When I got to the second one, I just took a scoop of the salad we had made and threw it on top. It was perfect.

In the end, neither Sarah nor the kids liked the taste, which was sad, but that just meant more for me.

All-you-can-eat KFC? Yes, please!

(As I type this, it occurs to me I should probably make a "food" icon.)

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. (Which reminds me: I'll be posting our Christmas letter soon.) In the meantime, I meant to post this last week, but time got away from me.

Last Sunday, for lunch after church, we went to the KFC in Lakeville. Now, the KFC in Apple Valley is closer to our house (and is combined with an A&W as a bonus) but we'd driven by the Lakeville KFC a number of times the past couple years, and had seen something we'd wanted to try out: a buffet!

We finally got around to trying it. It's pretty much what you'd think, only maybe moreso. It's available almost all day, and runs only $8 for an adult. (Elizabeth, 4 years old, was $4, and Alex, 3, was only $1.) That price includes beverages and all you can eat from the buffet, which, at least when we were there (though I don't know if the menu changes) included:

A salad bar (which, though limited in variety, was very fresh), Jell-O, a pistachio salad, soup (broccoli-cheese), biscuits, potatoes, gravy, original recipe chicken, Extra Tasty Crispy chicken, some mexican chicken dish, cinnamon rolls (quite similar to their biscuits, actually, and delicious), coleslaw, macaroni-and-cheese, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting.

All in all, it was fabulous, and well worth the price. I'm guessing, too, that the buffet makes up most of that place's sales, seeing as how everybody there was doing the all-you-can-eat thing.

Mom and Dad, we'll have to take you there next time you're up.

The Juce is Luce.

We grilled hamburgers last night, and I decided to try making a Jucy Lucy. We've actually done this once before, but I added a twist this time. First I chopped up some onion (with our new Pampered Chef chopper!) and kneaded it into the ground beef, along with a handful of bacon bits (real bacon, not Bacos.) I made two large, flat patties, folded a piece of american cheese in between them, and then pinched the sides together to form one big, cheese-filled patty. A liberal coating of salt and pepper and Worchestershire sauce, followed by a sprinkling of McCormack's Grillmates hamburger seasoning, and then they were on the grill. A piece of melted american cheese on top, served on a grill-toasted bun. Wow.

The first bite was a bit of a mess, with the back side of the burger bursting open, pouring hot, beefy cheese sauce onto my plate. But it was soooooo tasty. I'm totally doing it again, but maybe next time I'll had some more toppings (lettuce, tomato, and the like.)

Mongolian chicken = YUM x 100.

Just a little public service announcement:

Leeann Chin has a couple of new items on their menu. One is the "Mongolian Chicken" and I highly recommend it. It's very sweet, has a bit of a kick to it, and is very very tasty. Especially on fried rice. Ask for a sample next time you go in.

(This concludes today's public service announcement.)

Mmmmmm.

Sandwiches are beautiful
Sandwiches are fine
I like sandwiches
I eat them all the time...

This was lunch today:


Extra sharp cheddar, pepperoni, Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh smoked turkey, salt & pepper, lettuce, Gedney's Sweet Garden Cruncher pickles, and Miracle Whip, on white bread. Almost perfect. It would've been if we had had some wheat or multigrain bread. But still...yum yum yum.

Don't tell ME what to eat!

We made Pasta-Roni for supper tonight, and I ended up cooking it. Now, I like to follow the directions precisely as written. While doing so, I noticed that the box calls for "butter, margarine, or spread with no trans fats" (emphasis mine.) In fact, every time butter (or margarine or spread) is mentioned, it's explicitly stated to not use anything with trans fats.

Okay, I get that trans fats are bad for you and all. (Although I'm sure in 10 years or whatever, someone will be arguing that.) But I found it almost...insulting to have a box of Pasta-Roni dictating to me what I should and shouldn't be eating. I mean, cross-promotions like Rice Krispie Treats instructing you to only use Whatever Brand™ marshmallows are understandable. But a seemingly-implied "use only non-trans fat butter, don't you care about your health, you imbecile?" seems to be crossing a line of sorts.

Doesn't it?

Just like you think they'd taste.

Sarah and I had recently fallen in love with the "Garden Salsa" flavor Sun Chips, and came to the conclusion that any flavor of Sun Chips must be great, because...well, they're Sun Chips.

So when I saw the new cinnamon Sun Chips at Kwik Trip a month or so ago, my first thought was, "Those look... interesting. But I bet they taste good!" (My second thought was, "99 cents for a little bag? No thanks." Apparently they come in the standard large bags, but I've yet to see them.) Yesterday I finally gave in and picked some up.

My reaction upon tasting one was that, yes, it tastes exactly like you'd think: Sun Chips + cinnamon. But the flavor combination actually works. You get the sweet cinnamon-y flavor at the beginning, and the salty aftertaste of a normal Sun Chip. I love 'em. I still haven't gotten Sarah to try one, yet -- but they're Sun Chips , darn it!

Seriously, it's awesome.

A 5th Avenue bar mixed with vanilla ice cream. Totally awesome. I mean, Butterfinger Blizzards at Dairy Queen are okay, but this homemade concoction totally wins out.